U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,096,052 and 6,432,116 each entitled “Occluding Device and Method of Use” describe a device for occluding a body lumen. Each of the noted U.S. patents is hereby incorporated by reference. The patents particularly describe a contraceptive or sterilization device for occluding a reproductive tract or lumen to prevent the passage of reproductive cells through the tract or lumen. The device generally comprises a tubular member and a mesh member transversely disposed on the tubular member lumen. The mesh member is permeable to allow for tissue ingrowth, which produces a tissue impregnated mesh occluding the body lumen. The occluding device of the invention can be used in the fallopian tubes of a female patient, the vas deferens of a male patient, or various other body lumens. The device can additionally be used for delivering drugs or other substances to the bodies of human or animal subjects.
The device is typically delivered into the lumen of an anatomical passageway via use of an endoscope and, in the instance of a fallopian tube, via the use of a hysteroscope. A hysteroscope enables a physician to look and operate inside the uterus with a small camera; a working channel is provided within the hysteroscope. In the instance of placing the occluding device in a fallopian tube, the tubal ostium of the uterus must be visualized with a flexible or rigid scope. Because the opposing walls of the uterus are normally pressed together, the physician must deliver fluid to the uterus under pressure through a port in the scope to separate the uterine walls. To deliver the catheter, the working channel in the scope must be opened up and the delivery catheter inserted. The fallopian tube is located at an angle off of the uterus requiring the delivery catheter of the occluding device to bend and conform to the path of the fallopian tube. In doing so, it is possible for the blunt end tip of the delivery catheter to perforate the tissue and/or present the occluding device in a sub-mucosal placement.
Therefore, there is a need for a delivery system having a tip that reduces the opportunity for perforation or sub-mucosal placement (“parallel placement”) of the occluding device.